5/24/2010 @ 4:05PM

Apple, Google Play Smartphone Game

It’s been months since the last fevered, rumor-addled countdown to a new
Apple
product–that would have been the iPad, introduced in April. Time to begin a new one, and
Apple
has obliged by announcing that Steve Jobs will be speaking June 7 in San Francisco to a conference of
Apple
developers.

He’s expected to unveil a new model of the iPhone, presumably the same model that was leaked to the Gizmodo gadget site, resulting in search warrants and a criminal investigation. It’s expected to have a front-facing camera, which is necessary for video chats, as well as extra hardware to improve sound quality. Jobs is likely to also announce sundry improvements to the iPhone’s software, and perhaps even the availability of the product on a carrier other than AT&T.
Verizon
is the name heard most often in this regard.

When
Apple
introduced the iPhone, it had the field of next-generation smartphones all to itself. No more.
Google
has become a formidable rival with its Android operating system, and there are reports of Android phones outselling iPhone. As if to amp up the pressure on Apple, a Google executive said Monday that improvement to Android during the remainder of 2010 will “blow your mind.”

There is nothing new about companies hyping their unannounced products; with phones, though, Apple isn’t the only one playing the game.